Aaron Brown, Columnist

Even Low Earners Have Money to Spend

U.S. inequality doesn’t look as dire if you study spending instead of income.

November 29, 2019 at 12:00 PM UTC

Aaron Brown is a former head of financial market research at AQR Capital Management. He is also an active crypto investor, and has venture capital investments and advisory ties with crypto firms. He is the author of the soon-to-be-released "Wrong Number."

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Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

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There’s simple narrative of inequality in which rich people monopolize the wealth and income, and do nearly all the spending, while poor people struggle for survival.

But in the U.S. today, inequality is more complicated than that. Some people have wealth, others have income and still others are able to spend. These advantages overlap but are far from identical.